Trading Standards Investigations into Lettings Agents and Property Managers

The request was successful.

Dear Southampton City Council,

Would you please supply the following information under the Freedom of Information Act.

The number of trading standards investigations carried out in relation to letting agents and property management companies in the past 5 years. If the number of investigations is less than 15, please extend the period to 10 years.

With the data please expand using the following criteria:

What was the exact nature of those investigations and outcome on a case by case basis and who were the alleged offending agents involved in those cases. With this in mind please clarify the investigations using the following format taking note of the examples.

Date: xx/xxxx
Company: ABC Agents
Offence/s: Breach of section xx of xxxx Act /Reg xxxx
Nature of Offence: Misleading action/Omission/Money Laundering/Failure to Register for Redress Scheme
Action Taken: Warning Issued/Court Proceedings Taken (Outcome)/ Referred to Police/SFO/CMA/ Or Relevant comment

Date: xx/xxxx
Company: (Under Investigation)
Offence/s: Breach of section xx of xxxx Act /Reg xxxx
Nature of Offence: Misleading action/Omission/Money Laundering/Failure to Register for Redress Scheme
Action Taken: Under Investigation/Proceeding With Court Case/Referred to Police/SFO/CMA/Or Relevant Comment

It is understood that disclosure of any company’s details is not covered by the DPA and therefore cannot be withheld unless there is a current ongoing investigation (not outstanding due to disapeearance) against the company. In stating this exception only applies to ongoing investigations and does not preclude the company being named relating to previous investigations. If there is an ongoing investigation then please indicate the investigation type and omit the company’s name.

Finally, the release of this information is in the public interest and appreciate your cooperation in this matter.

Yours Sincerely,

M Doyle

Information, Southampton City Council

Thank you for contacting Southampton City Council.

Your enquiry will be passed to the relevant team/officer for action.

If you have made a request for information, you will receive a response
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may be contacted if we require further information from you.

If you have any queries, please contact the Council's Corporate Legal Team
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Information, Southampton City Council

Dear Mark Doyle,

 

Thank you for your Freedom of Information request received on 17/11/2017.
It has been determined that you have requested the following information:

 

The number of trading standards investigations carried out in relation to
letting agents and property management companies in the past 5 years.  If
the number of investigations is less than 15, please extend the period to
10 years.

With the data please expand using the following criteria: What was the
exact nature of those investigations and outcome on a case by case basis
and who were the alleged offending agents involved in those cases.

 

If this is not correct, please contact [1][email address]
to clarify your request as soon as possible.

 

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Rianna Farrow
Modern Apprentice (Legal Administration)

Legal & Governance

Southampton and Fareham Legal Services Partnership
Southampton City Council
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FOI-1718-0898-021579/00726838

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Dear Ms Farrow

FOI-1718-0898-021579/00726838

Further to you email of today; as long as the information is presented with all details as per the criteria containing all the requested information (acceptable in spreadsheet form). If you still remain unsure of what detail is required, please feel free to look at the received responses for the same request from Croydon, Kingston upon Thames and Barking and Dagenham for examples of responses containing the information required.

Yours sincerely,

Mark Doyle

Information, Southampton City Council

Thank you for contacting Southampton City Council.

Your enquiry will be passed to the relevant team/officer for action.

If you have made a request for information, you will receive a response
promptly, and within the statutory timeframe for compliance. Once your
request has been logged, you will receive further details of this, and you
may be contacted if we require further information from you.

If you have any queries, please contact the Council's Corporate Legal Team
on 023 8083 2129.

Dear Southampton City Council,

FOI-1718-0898-021579/00726838

Please note that I have received some erroneous uses of the FOI and Enterprise act to withhold information, therefore to alleviate any misunderstandings I have given a further example of the type of information and format that is covers all the parameters of my request sent to 53 councils. Leicester City Council's response is ideal and a benchmark

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/t...

Yours faithfully,

Mark Doyle

Information, Southampton City Council

Thank you for contacting Southampton City Council.

Your enquiry will be passed to the relevant team/officer for action.

If you have made a request for information, you will receive a response
promptly, and within the statutory timeframe for compliance. Once your
request has been logged, you will receive further details of this, and you
may be contacted if we require further information from you.

If you have any queries, please contact the Council's Corporate Legal Team
on 023 8083 2129.

Giany, Gurpreet, Southampton City Council

3 Attachments

Dear Mark

 

Please find attached Southampton City Council's response to your Freedom
of Information request. Please accept our apologies for the delay in
sending this response.

 

Kind regards

 

 

Gurpreet Giany

Business Support Officer

Business Support Service

Southampton City Council

 

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Dear Giany, Gurpreet,

Firstly, many thanks for your reply. However, the information supplied has ambiguities which are open to interpretation and as such the information supplied is in effect a potential misrepresentation of facts and the reason why I sent a link to the Leicester City response. In avoidance of requesting an internal review the below highlights concerns that require clarification.

2016 investigation.

You state that the investigation is still ongoing yet stipulate penalty charges relating to failure in being a member to a redress scheme and failure in the publishing of fess, each of which can result in penalties of up to £5,000 for each breach or the issuing of a warning.

The stating of penalty charges insinuates the contrary of an ongoing investigation to which the penalty charges are the final outcome. However, it could be that the penalties are being disputed through the tribunal or courts on one or both counts.

That you have withheld the company name which given the nature of the offence and practices of public notices of compliance being placed relating to food hygiene in other businesses regardless of any legal action being pursued, is unreasonable unless the penalties are being disputed through the tribunal or courts.

Given the above, please clarify the following.

Please confirm if penalty charges were made and if so, how much and please stipulate the relative breach. Example £3,850 relating to failure to publish fees and £5,000 for failure to belong to a redress scheme.

Please disclose the company name or make it clear that the penalties are currently being disputed and in the process of being presented for tribunal appeal or court action. Or indeed connected to the 2017 investigations.

2017 Investigations

Clarification

In the information supplied you have cited 3 identical investigations into " individual A" with 3 companies and or trading names being withheld. Given that all 3 investigations are identical in description relating to "individual A" and the criteria of one of the cited offence relating to the Companies Act and relative links to with the Fraud act 2006 and CPRs, it could be taken that this is in fact a singular and wider investigation into the activities of a single individual and their 3 trading names and or companies rather than 3 individuals and separate companies. Please confirm which it is: Example: 1 Individual with 3 trading names and or companies or 3 individuals with 3 separate trading names and or companies.

This taken into account, please confirm that the CRA breach is in relation to misleading action and omission otherwise please state the nature of the breach and which section or indeed sections apply.

Please note that this is required for clarity of reporting and the categorisation of offences and information being obtained in 53 identical requests as some councils have inadvertently misrepresented and in turn distorted the information given in effect corrupting the information being supplied.
I trust that you understand my position and trust that you will be able to clarify this as son as possible

Sincerely

Mark Doyle

BSS FOI, Southampton City Council

Morning Mark

Here is the response to your query:

Company 1 is HOMPLUS LTD; £5000 in each instance.

Individual A is director of three limited companies traded consecutively; Individual A is thus being investigated for 3 offences, one relating to each limited entity, contrary to S993 Companies Act 2006. The alleged breaches of the CPR's has

been superseded by a focus on the S993 offences.

Kind regards

Gurpreet Giany
Business Support Officer
Business Support Service
Southampton City Council

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This email is confidential but may have to be disclosed under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, the Data Protection Act 1998 or the Environmental Information Regulations 2004. If you are not the person or organisation it was meant for, apologies, please ignore it, delete it and notify us. SCC does not make legally binding agreements or accept formal notices/proceedings by email. E-mails may be monitored. This email (and its attachments) is intended only for the use of the person(s) to whom it is addressed, and may contain information that is privileged and/or confidential. If it has come to you in error, you must take no action based on it, nor must you copy or show it to anyone.

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